The current study presents an annotated checklist of the land snail species in the vicinity of the limestone hill of Gua (= cave) Rumbang, an outcrop located at the district of Padawan, Sarawak, ...Malaysian Borneo. The sampling was conducted at the surrounding areas and near the cave’s entrance. A total of 62 species, involving 19 families and 38 genera, were recorded. Comparison with previous surveys made in the Bau limestone hills revealed similarities with respect to the species-rich families Diplommatinidae and Cyclophoridae, and the genera Kaliella and Diplommatina , highlighting the regional consistency of the land snail diversity of the Bau-Padawan-Serian cluster. Possibly because of its smaller size, Gua Rumbang is home to two endemic species, while there are eight endemic species in the Bau limestone karsts. This suggests a potential for a significant species diversity within the areas of the limestone ranges that remain to be explored. Nonetheless, the occurrence of endemic species in Gua Rumbang highlights the need to conserve certain areas within the Padawan limestone range since hitherto no protected areas have been proposed in this region. In this checklist, a new species for science is also described, namely, Diplommatina rumbangensis sp. nov.
Velika plaža (Ulcinj, Montenegro) is the largest sandy beach along the coast of the eastern Adriatic that still has well-developed sand-dune vegetation. Although the characterization of the flora and ...vegetation of Velika plaža has been addressed by many authors, knowledge on its vegetation remained poor. We made a phytosociological study of sand beach vegetation comprising both dunal and wetland areas to provide a comprehensive survey of sand dune vegetation and habitat typology of Velika plaža. Based on 149 relevés (both from literature and recent field work), and with numerical classification (Flexible beta) and ordination (Non-metric multidimensional scaling) our results show that the vegetation of Velika plaža is much more diverse than previously known. Altogether, 19 plant communities from 6 vegetation classes were identified. Among them we described two new associations: Cuscuto cesatianae-Phyletum nodiflorae and Onobrychido caput-galli-Vulpietum fasciculatae.
Aim: Recent studies of plant invasions in habitat types across different climatic regions of Europe have made it possible to produce a European map of plant invasions. Parallel research led to the ...formulation of integrated scenarios of future socio-economic development, which were used to create spatially explicit scenarios of European land-use change for the 21st century. Here we integrate these two research lines and produce the first spatially explicit projections of plant invasions in Europe for the years 2020, 2050 and 2080. Location: The European Union (except Bulgaria and Romania), Norway and Switzerland. Methods: We used vegetation plots from southern, central and north-western Europe to quantify mean levels of invasion by neophytes (post-1500 alien plants) for forest, grassland, urban, arable and abandoned land. We projected these values on the land-use scenarios for 2020,2050 and 2080, and constructed maps of future plant invasions under three socio-economic scenarios assuming: (1) deregulation and globalization, (2) continuation of current policies with standing regulations, and (3) a shift towards sustainable development. Results: Under all scenarios an increase in the level of invasion was projected for north-western and northern Europe, and under the first two scenarios a decrease for some agricultural areas of eastern Europe where abandonment of agricultural land is expected. A net increase in the level of invasion over Europe was projected under scenarios 2 and 3. Main conclusions: The polarization between more and less invaded regions is likely to increase if future policies are oriented on economic deregulation, which may result in serious future problems in some areas of Europe. However, an implementation of sustainability policies would not automatically restrict the spread of alien plants. Therefore invasions require specific policy approaches beyond the more general ones, which are currently on the policy agenda and were tested in the scenarios.
In nature conservation, providing new, advanced knowledge of protected habitats and biota often requires extensive sampling, which contradicts the main goal of minimizing damage and disturbance. How ...to avoid this innate collision was the main concern in our study. Highland habitats are suitable for addressing this problem, since they are relatively species-poor and therefore easier to analyze. Invertebrate distributions are, to some extent, expected to vary congruently with habitat type (HT) distributions. However, studies of such effects are scarce. In this study we researched harvestmen (Opiliones) in highland habitats above 1,800 m in the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, a Natura 2000 area in Slovenia. The question was whether mapping of HT distributions could predict the presence of the harvestman species and replace their laborious mapping. For this purpose, we studied relationships between the HT distributions and the harvestman species distributions with respect to environmental conditions. Chao2 and Jackknife1 were found to provide the best estimates of total species diversity. In assessing the species richness, the incidence-based approach was applied. No indicator harvestman species for the HTs, and no statistical difference was found in the harvestman community structure of three most frequently inhabited HTs. Most HTs and harvestman species responded gradually and in parallel to the changing environmental conditions along the altitudinal gradient, revealing covariation of their distributions. Hence, knowledge of highland HT distributions cannot replace the mapping of harvestmen.
Lhoknga subdistrict is an area that has a habitat for many species of fauna, including birds. References about species of birds in some habitats are still very limited. Therefore, it is necessary to ...make a research on bird species in several types of habitat in the district of Lhoknga. The aim of the research is to figure out birds species in several types of habitats in the Lhoknga subdistrict. The data were collected by using the point count method and line transects. The results showed that there were 39 species of birds from 21 families found in Lhoknga district. Based on the PP. No. 07 of 1999, it was found that there were 14 species of protected birds in Lhoknga subdistrict.
Considering the great importance of Ramsar Site for biodiversity, we measured the invasibility - the habitat characteristic that refers to the susceptibility to invasions, in six Ramsar Sites of the ...southern part of the Pannonian Plain. We selected 18 invasive neophytes of different life forms, due to their different habitat preferences, to cover as many habitat types as possible. We made 669 plots during the period 2011-2015, in which at least one target invasive taxa was present. We determined habitat types in each plot, using the EUNIS habitat classification. The invasibility of different habitats in Ramsar Sites was determined taking into account the coverage index (D
%
) of all selected invasive species. Our analyses showed that habitat invasibility was highest in different forest, and in riverine shrub habitats, while the smallest invasibility was registered in sedge and reed beds, without free-standing water. Previous research based on some other methods coincides with our results and supports the suitability of using the coverage index method when estimating the habitat’s invasibility. As wetlands are one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, determination of habitat invasibility has great importance for management and should be one of the main preventive steps in their protection.
Assessing the quality of wetlands as refuelling areas for migrating waterbirds based on resource distribution patterns is challenging. Resources in wetlands can vary both horizontally and vertically ...and may be differentially available to different bird species at different times of the year. Therefore, the extent to which wetland quality can be generalised across seasons and for a diversity of birds remains unresolved.
Spatiotemporal variation in abundance and quality of macrobenthos as food for migrating waders was studied in a set of wetland areas near a Mediterranean migration bottleneck in the Balkan peninsula, during both spring and autumn migration. Samples were subdivided into different depth layers to differentiate between parts of the sediment that are accessible to different groups of wader species. To quantify food availability and the resulting refuelling capacity in different wetland habitat types, abundance, wet weight, and lipid and protein content of invertebrate taxa were determined for each sample.
Invertebrate food availability and quality were markedly higher in spring than in autumn. Given the higher abundance and protein and lipid content of prey in spring, the total energy that could be harvested in spring (3.81 ± 0.79 kJ/m2) was about 7 times higher than in autumn (0.56 ± 0.12 kJ/m2). Most prey were found in the top layer of the sediment (0–22 mm depth), but about a third of the total energy was present in the deepest soil layer that only longer‐billed species could reach (55–200 mm depth). Higher quality prey items such as larger‐bodied and heavier polychaetes and bivalves were found in the deeper sediment layers.
For other taxa, there was no evident vertical pattern of increasing individual body size. Prey abundance differed between certain habitat types but, overall, food availability could not be linked to distinct habitats. In spring, redox potential tended to be higher, while pH, vegetation cover, conductivity, and temperature were lower than in autumn.
Different wetland habitat classes used in a conservation framework may provide similar food resources for waders. As a result, linking food availability to habitat classifications is not straightforward. Furthermore, seasonal variation in wetland quality requires a re‐evaluation of the importance of wetland areas during spring and autumn migration. Finally, nutritional analyses are essential for determining the capacity of wetlands to support refuelling by migratory waterbirds.
The habitat selection of two abundant and widespread Palearctic rallids (Coot Fulica atra; Moorhen Gallinula chloropus) across a range of wetland types was investigated. The distribution of these two ...species varied according to water depth, as implied by the dominant vegetation present in the study area. Coots most frequently used wet dune slacks dominated by Phragmites australis, whereas Moorhens were mostly present in anthropized ecotones. It is hypothesized that because these two rallid species respond differently to various environmental pressures, they could be used as useful indicators for biomonitoring remnant wetlands. Indeed, they are relatively generalist, common, widespread and medium‐sized species, relatively easy to detect and exhibit a high sensitivity to specific water‐related habitat types, also at a small‐scaled spatial resolution.
Aim: Niche theory emphasizes the importance of environmental conditions for the distribution and abundance of species. Using a macroecological approach our study aimed at identifying the important ...environmental gradients for spiders. We generated numerical values of niche position and niche width. We also investigated relationships between these niche properties as well as the degree of phylogenetic conservatism in order to draw conclusions about the evolution of the habitat niche. Location: Central Europe: lowlands of Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Methods: We analysed 244 published spider communities from 70 habitat types by correspondence analysis. The resulting community scores were used to test for correlations with habitat characteristics. Species scores were used to derive niche position (mean scores) and niche width (standard deviation of scores). To test for niche conservatism we estimated variance components across the taxonomic hierarchy. Results: The first two axes of the correspondence analysis were correlated with shading and moisture, respectively. Niche width had a hump-shaped relationship to both environmental gradients. β-diversity was strikingly higher in open habitats than in forests. Habitat niche conservatism was lower than phylogenetic conservatism in body size. Main conclusions: Environmental factors are important drivers for the β-diversity of spiders, especially across open habitats. This underlines the importance of preserving the whole range of moisture conditions in open habitats. Narrow niches of species occurring at the ends of both environmental gradients indicate that adaptations to extreme habitats lead to constraints in ecological flexibility. Nevertheless, the habitat niche of species seems to evolve much faster than morphological or physiological traits.
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